How do you scare a bee?

We took the kids to do some flower picking and berry picking today. They had some beautiful flowers there so I took some pics. This little guy was in pollen heaven. We are finding lots of beautiful places to visit. Today's was Sauvie Island. Boo Bee.

One of the things I will miss about living in New Jersey is the changing of the leaves in the fall. I remember a co-worker telling me one morning about a fall foliage website that tracked the color change all up the East coast. Anyway, coming from a place that didn't really experience bright, vibrant colors in any season I really enjoyed the fall in Princeton. This picture is of the Princeton boathouse on Lake Carnegie one fall morning.

I guess we'll stick with the theme of water on this picture. I like this one for a couple of reasons. First, the picture is actually inverted - that's right - the top is really the bottom and vice versa. Second, it is actually a reflection of the canal near our previous abode in Princeton. If you look close the branches on the right are wwwaaavvvyy while the branches on the left are not. Again, luck.

Waterfall Hike

It turns out that Oregon has quite a few scenic places. One that was recommended to us by some friends was Silver Falls State Park that has a "trail of ten falls." We took the kids on Saturday to get out of the house and were not disappointed. The highlight of the day was walking behind some falls on this trail that went back into this half-cave like area. We only made it to two of the ten falls but that was enough to make us want to go back to see the rest.

Love The Beach

I know I am breaking with the theme but I wanted to share the beautiful sunset we were able to see on our little getaway to Cannon Beach this week. We had a great time with friends and the beach was beautiful. Our kids are fans of the movie, "The Goonies" and you may recognize the rock in the picture. We never did find the treasure or the pirate ship. I recommend seeing the rock in real life.

A Good Night

We took our girls to a popular ice cream place in downtown Princeton after their dance performance during our last spring in Princeton and I snapped this shot of the courtyard near the library. It does a pretty good job of showing the "quaintness" of the area. I sure will miss that ice cream.

This building is perhaps the coolest I've been in. You can sit in the lobby and just look around for a long time and hear the ohh's and ahh's coming from your mouth as well as from those around you. The building is the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia - home of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The area where the performances take place is even more impressive but photography is not allowed in there. Trust me - I was chastised by an usher.

Da Met

One of our favorite things to do on the East coast was to visit museums. This picture was taken at the MET in NYC. Definitely put it on your "to do" list if you are ever in the City. The building itself is amazing let alone all the cool exhibits.

I guess this next theme will be buildings and other man made objects. This picture was taken while standing outside of The American Girl doll store in NYC. Apparently we weren't the only people with the idea of going to the store that day since we had to stand in line to even get in the place. I have to admit that the store was pretty amazing but I think I would have enjoyed it more without having to rub up against so many people just to get around. Sarah and I tried to guess how much money that store took in that day. I think it is safe to say the number had at least 8 digits in it - all to the left of the decimal point.

Here comes the bride

I’ve decided to change themes so this will be the last “people pic” until I get sick of other themes. This is one of my favorite photos for a couple of reasons. First, it was a big day for a favorite gal that our littlest is named after – the bride in the picture. Secondly, I noticed that she is looking down and to her left and if you look in the back, that is the groom and he is looking down and to the right – well – at least down. Anyway, I took a lot of pictures that day and only got a few that I would consider good. This was one of them.

Sharp Dressed Man

Two things make this picture a keeper:

1. My son is dressed up - a rare event indeed.

2. The reflection in the window to the left of Cade - it just happened to be at an angle to catch the bridge that was near the reception site. Just the right place at the right time.

Pizzoww!

I snapped this picture of J playing in a park in downtown Princeton after one of Nat's tennis lessons. Apparently, a power line had fallen across the top of the slide and I was unaware of it until I saw this picture when we got back home. Luckily, no animals were hurt during this photo session. It actually reminds me of Sarah's senior picture when "big hair" was the rage.

Cool Off Mister!

I love this picture of our neighbor's son Reuben shooting Cade with a hose on one of those hot-n-muggy New Jersey summer days. To use a line from a credit card advertisement, "Their expressions are priceless."

Sleeping Underwater?

I don't get how hippos can stay under for so long. Maybe that was the question my kids were wondering as they pressed their faces against the glass at the aquarium in Camden. Anyway, the picture turned out so I am not as worried about the hippos anymore.

Good Color

I really like the color in this picture. Right when it came up on the screen after the download from the memory card I instantly liked it. I may be bias but this gal is pretty easy to photograph too!

Naturally Photogenic

Like I said in an earlier post – some people are just easy to capture on film. This is the unbelievably cute daughter of our unbelievably cool neighbors back in Princeton. You can easily tell who the center of attention became whenever she was outside. We would always comment on how much she looks like her daddy but it is odd I never got quite the same quality pictures of him. You know I love ya Safwat.

Lucky Reflection II

I guess that moving to Oregon has made me reflective because this picture is another “reflection.” It originally was taken from quite a distance but upon zooming in I noticed the cool picture in my brother-in-law’s sunglasses. I think Nike could use this as an advertisement. Anyway – baseball and photography go well together. Oh yeah – you can only get that kind of view from the very last row in Yankee Stadium.

Lucky Reflection

I thought since my first post included a picture of people that I would stick with that theme for awhile. Honestly, getting quality pictures of people is the hardest part of taking pictures for me. It seems as though it takes basically just good timing most often and every once in a while I get one that I would call “quality.” Not that the person is made to look better than they actually are, but that the light is just right; the background is cool; the expression catches something out of the ordinary; or the person is just easy to capture in pixel form. Most of the time when I get a good picture of someone it is just being in the right place at the right time and getting lucky. Like this shot of my niece on the New Jersey Transit as we traveled back from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade last November. It was pure luck how this turned out.

Pictures

I am really not too fond of writing down my deepest thoughts, words of wisdom, or random anecdotes about my life. However, I do like to take pictures. Therefore, this blog will consist of mostly my pictures and not so mostly of my commentary. I welcome your thoughts, suggestions, and reactions to my photos but consider that I am like a good peach – I bruise easily. That’s not such a good analogy because I have two pits and not just one. The kind that grow under your arm.

This first picture is of a wedding we just attended in Kansas City. The groom is my second cousin – doesn’t he look happy? I put this in because I like the reaction of the crowd on the left as they blow bubbles. A great action shot. Enjoy.